Synopsis "Vanessa's Niece (in English)"
The psyche of Jacob Brougham, insofar as it concerns women, has been deeply affected by a certain type of characteristics seemingly possessed by each of his three grandmothers and his own mother (all of whom he loves and respects and mistrusts) and the wife of his favorite primary school teacher. He and Shirley Wilson, growing up in one of Tobago's numerous tiny littoral villages, at a relatively tender age, become lovers. Shirley is younger than he is, and he is at once delighted and alarmed at the skill and experience she displays. He asks her about it and discovers that it is a gift of her primary school teacher (a man who would, in time, rise to the heights of headmaster and senior member of the church board). She is open and honest about her sexual grooming, and even accepts it as a wrong done to her, but she is strangely forgiving of the man. This latter response troubles Jacob deeply. Still, he bears in mind that in the village-where sex and religion are the vital forces, but sex is never spoken of-he, too, has been groomed. More, Shirley must certainly know he has been groomed-and by whom! As hard as that would be, he must try not to be squeamish. As their relationship grows, Jacob finds that, whatever shortcomings Shirley may have, she is not devious-a characteristic with which his mind has come, willy-nilly, liberally to endow all women. To make matters worse for his head, she has proved to be loyal, trustworthy, loving, and industrious. Yet it is Shirley's pregnancy that settles matters. In its infancy, the marriage is, however, ruined before it can get time to find its feet. Even she, while professing her undying love for him, stoically agrees that the divorce is inevitable. Still, in a vow there and then whispered to herself, she determines that their next marriage will be a proper and well-planned one and will happen in a church. And Shirley keeps her vow.
